Flight instructors play a critical role in aviation training and are a conduit for students who want to get training, experience, and certifications for a pilot’s license.
CFI's are a wealth of knowledge, not just the kind you get from textbooks, but also from real-world experience. And often, those experiences can teach you as much — if not more — than you can learn in a simulator, watching training videos, or digesting all the educational materials you can get your hands on.
That’s why establishing a rapport with your flight instructor right out of the gate — and continuously nurturing that relationship throughout your flight school experience — is so important.
Unfortunately, many new student pilots don’t take full advantage of what their instructors can offer. Sometimes that’s because there’s a limited number of certified flight instructors (CFIs) and a growing number of students, so many are busy managing the needs of multiple students simultaneously. But often, it’s because aspiring pilots don’t do the necessary groundwork before they get started. The end result? Lost learning opportunities.
Yet, with forethought and focus, you can ensure you get the most out of your time with your flight instructor. Here are 8 ways to maximize your experience:
1. Get Your Certifications and Licensing in Focus
Before your pilot training journey takes off, think about what type of pilot you want to be. Do you want to get a private pilot license, or do you want to have a career as a commercial pilot? Your goals will determine the type of certification you’ll work toward and can help you choose the right flight instructor and ensure the time they’re investing in training aligns with your pilot licensing objectives.
Here are some of the various types of pilot certificates and licensing to consider:
- If you want to become a career pilot, that begins with earning a student pilot certificate, which you’ll need before you can advance to a higher-level pilot certification. You also need a student pilot certification before you make your first solo flight.
- If you’re not looking to make a career out of flying, consider getting a sport pilot certificate. To earn it, you’ll need to log at least 20 flight hours. Sport pilot certifications have limitations, for example, the maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) for a sport pilot aircraft is 1,320 pounds and you can only have one passenger. Sports pilots are also restricted to flying during daytime.
- If you’re going to continue your aviation training for higher certification, you have other options. For example, you can get a private pilot’s license (PPL), which requires 35-40 flight hours depending on if you’re attending a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school. This license allows you to fly any non-commercial aircraft and doesn’t have restrictions on passenger count or flying at night.
- If you’re working toward a career as a pilot, consider a commercial pilot license (CPL). You’ll need your PPL first and log 190-250 flight hours (depending on your fight school). If you want to work for a major airline, you will likely need many more flight hours to qualify, in many cases, 1,500 or more.
- To fly as an airline pilot on passenger flights, you’ll need an airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate, which comes after your PPL and CPL. This requires 1,500 hours of flight time with specifications for flight times for night flights, cross-country flights, time as pilot in command, and specific aircraft type hours and instrument time.
- And, if you love what you’re doing, you can also work toward becoming a flight instructor yourself. With a flight instructor certificate, you’ll become a CFI and can train other pilots. You’ll need your CPL before you can get this certificate.
Other types of certificates available include:
- Recreational pilot certificate
- Remote pilot certificate
2. Get in Gear with a Flight School and Instructor
Most certified flight instructors work for flight schools so finding the right flight instructor often begins with finding the right flight school. To maximize your time with your instructor, research potential flight schools to find the one that best fits your personal goals and certification objectives.
There’s no one-size-fits all checklist for choosing a flight school. There are many factors that can shape your decision — everything from your location to the type of certification you want to get.
- When researching flight schools, do more than just click through websites or watch promotional videos. Get in gear and go check them out. Not only can you see the facilities and fleet in person, but you can also get a feel for the environment and maybe even meet an instructor or two.
- While onsite, ask questions about the aviation training facility’s instructors. Go beyond just getting names. Ask for information about their experience and certifications. It will be helpful to align your instructor choice with your student pilot goals, so it’s a good idea to partner with someone with similar experiences.
- Once you know who the instructors are, get to know them. Being comfortable is an important part of your flight training experience, so you should engage with your flight instructor before you show up for your first flight lesson.
- Think of choosing a pilot instructor similar to hiring someone for a job. Prepare a list of questions in advance and don’t hesitate to decline an opportunity to train with a CFI if you don’t think it’s the right fit for you.
Other things to consider:
- Flight school fees and expenses and licensing costs can quickly add up. Research potential costs for your pilot training before you begin so you’ll know what to expect in the weeks and months ahead.
- Set clear and realistic goals for your flight training experience.
- Anticipate challenges you might encounter during flight training and make plans to overcome them. Seek out other student pilots and ask them about common challenges they faced and how they overcame them.
3. Get to Know Your Instructor
Time with your flight instructor is valuable, not just in terms of the flying skills and proficiencies you’ll gain working with them, but also soft skills, such as the ability to problem-solve in stressful situations, improved communication, and professionalism.
- Before you begin, it’s OK to ask your instructor to share pertinent training, certifications, and experiences with you. If at any point you don’t feel comfortable or don’t feel your learning abilities align with the instructor’s teaching capabilities, it’s OK to request a different instructor.
- Talk with your instructor about preferred means of communication. Do you need to bring all your questions to your next lesson? Will the instructor have time to talk in person before or after training? Can you email or call them?
- Establish a rapport. Ask your flight instructor about training expectations and objectives. Talk with your instructor about your personal goals and what you hope to get from your training. Work with your instructor to ensure your goals and expectations are aligned.
- Practice active listening. Listen to what the instructor tells you and provide feedback about your conversations. If you have questions or don’t understand something, talk about it.
- Ask if your flight instructor has a syllabus or course outline. If yes, be sure to review that outline along with your assigned training materials before each flight lesson.
4. Get Grounded
Instructors don’t want to waste time and their student pilots should be focused at all times, so it will be helpful to complete ground school and pass your knowledge test before you begin flight training. While some students opt to do ground school and flight training simultaneously, you may find it a little less burdensome to tackle ground school first, then begin flight training.
What is ground school? Think of ground school as your first step in pilot training. This is where you get “grounded” in knowledge about all things aviation-related. For example, you’ll learn about the four forces of flight, aircraft instruments, map reading, basic safety protocols, route planning, weather conditions, airport rules, and more.
Generally, ground school takes up to a month to complete. Some flight schools offer on-site ground school, while others have virtual options. During flight school, be prepared and take part in discussions. If you don’t understand something or need additional information, this is the time to ask for it. That way, you’ll have the knowledge you need to leave the ground and get into the air for training.
With the basics already under your belt, completing ground school before starting flight instruction will help optimize your time with your flight instructor.
5. Get Ready for Takeoff
After you complete ground school, it’s time to prepare for flight training. To get the most out of your time with your instructor, ask about the type of training or lessons you’ll take part in before you arrive. This can help you prepare by thinking about relevant things you learned in ground school and some challenges you might face and guide you for what you need to study before your flight sessions.
6. Get Your Nose in the Books
- If your instructor provides or recommends training materials, study them in advance and review again the day of training. Once again, if you have questions or concerns, share them with your flight instructor for clarity.
- Establish self-study habits. Do you learn better by reading? Taking notes? Watching videos? Do you need a dedicated space and time to study? Would it be helpful to have a study partner or take part in a study group? Align your self-study habits with your pilot training goals.
- Study more than the materials from your instructor or flight school. Use online resources such as the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) handbooks and manuals for aircraft and aviation, and pilot study tips.
- Utilize flight training applications. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) recommends its app, which has flight training articles and aviator resources. AOPA also recommends LogTen, a digital pilot logbook that can help you track your flight time, endorsements and signatures, rest and duty tracking, and more.
- Join aviation clubs and participate in networking opportunities. If your flight training school has events, be sure to attend. It’s a great way to meet pilots and other aviation enthusiasts.
7. Get to Know Your Craft
While you’ll learn the basics in ground school, to get the most out of aviation training with your instructor, get to know the type of aircraft you’ll be flying before you step into the cockpit. Remember, the type of certificate you’re earning will dictate the type of plane you can fly. By getting to know your aircraft before you climb in, you can free up some of your time with your pilot instructor to focus more on procedures, processes, and safety protocols.
Consider:
- Once you know which type of aircraft you’ll fly, learn about its systems, equipment, maintenance, and related procedures.
- Partake in as much simulator training as you can. Most flight schools have flight simulators. There are also other commercially available flight simulators you can purchase for your own home to practice on your own time.
- Get feedback from your instructor and discuss your experiences in the aircraft you’ll use.
- If you don’t feel confident about your knowledge of your specific aircraft or don’t think you’ve attained the level of skill you need, ask your flight instructor if you can get more flying sessions in that aircraft.
8. Make a Good Impression
Certified flight instructors want to pass on their knowledge and love of flying and, if you make a good impression on your instructor, you can build a rapport with zero turbulence. Here are some ways you can do that:
- Ask your instructor if you can set a consistent schedule and then be sure to stick to it. Try to limit the amount of time between lessons to no more than a few days, if possible, so you won’t forget what you learned in your previous lesson.
- Respect your instructor’s time. Show up on time.
- Be prepared and ready to go when your training session begins.
- Be flexible. Understand that weather conditions and other factors could ground you, so be flexible and work with your flight instructor to reschedule as needed.
- Show your instructor you’re serious about what you’re doing by studying and preparing for each flight training session.
- Stay engaged. Keep asking questions. Keep growing your knowledge and expanding your skills.
- Utilize all the resources available to you (flight school facilities, equipment, etc.)
- Ask your instructor to mentor you on your career path.
Get Ready to Soar
If you love flying, you’ll want to get in the air as quickly (and as safely) as possible. Maximizing your time with your flight instructor will be an important part of that. Not only will this time help you gain valuable skills and become a better pilot, but you can also take off with the confidence you’ve gotten the most out of your flight training experience.
And so you don’t forget anything and meet all of your requirements, consider using a digital pilot logbook like LogTen to track all of your flight hours. You can use the flight logging software to create and track new flights, get digital signatures so you can certify check rides and endorsements, have confidence you’ll never lose your data because you can trust its backups, and sync and share your logs right from the cloud.
Optimizing flight hours with your CFI can also help you establish good habits and develop the professionalism all good pilots should have. Get the most out of your time with your flight instructor to ensure you’re making steady progress, learning new skills, and getting feedback to improve and reach your goals.